Lego Steampunk Castle and World Trade Center

Here are two creations made from Legos that almost seem like works of art. The first is called "Steam Castle Falls" that was shown off at an expo in Rosheim, France. Created by Arnaud Besson, Olivier Curto, and Jimmy Fortel, the wonderful creation is made up of over 20,000 Legos and took over four months to build. The result is a diorama that is just full of medieval details and design. Click here for pictures or more at the links for each buidler's flickr accounts.

The other awesome piece is a re-creation of One World Trade Center complete with light effects. Design by Lego Discovery Center in Westchester County, New York, the piece is 12 foot tall, 110 pounds and comprised of 4,873 bricks. More images of it can be found here.

Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage

Today the Supreme Court of the United States did something surprising. In a 5-4 decision, they ruled that the 1996's The Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional. The law prevented the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages even when legalized in states. While most anti-gay focus on the "married" part, the law has repercussions that extend into taxes, death benefits, health care coverage and host of other legal issues that other marriages simply did not have to worry about. In essence the ruling is saying the federal government is not allowed to discriminate based on sexual preference. The case regarding gay marriage is ultimately about a founding and constant principle of this country - equality for all.

The ruling occurred because of an unexpected jumping of sides from Justice Anthony Kennedy, who while Republican, tends to go back and forth across the political dividing line, wrote the majority decision. In other words he behaves like a Justice should and makes me wish the other 8 were just as unpredictable as he tends to be.

XBox 180's On DRM

In a blog post Microsoft has reversed course on their universally disliked DRM policy and declared that how things work now on the XBox 360 will carry over to the XBox One. Before the reversal, the policy was that publishers would have absolute control on your ability to loan out games, sell games or buy them used. Even if the publishers allowed you to sell them, they would also have final say on what retailers you could sell too. In other words the days of trading games with friends, giving them away or just making a few quick bucks when done with them would be over. Now some fans would say that it would not be that bad but the reality is if publishers could do it, they would make the used game market illegal. They have zero interest in encouraging it and would have used Microsoft's technical solutions to try and prevent it. On top of that they had a 24 hour check in to homebase to verify your copy of the game was legit. If could not check in, then your system became an attractive piece of furniture until it could.

The result of this decision resulted in a pretty consistent buttwhupping by the gaming press and fans with many wondering if MS knew what they were even doing anymore. This was followed by a so-so E3 Press Conference that showed off the XBox's traditional bread and butter of shoot em ups and sports game that pretty much everyone ignored in light of their DRM policy. The final nail in the coffin is when Sony used their own press conference to use that DRM policy against them while also beating them on price. The resulting consensus is if going to buy a next gen system, skip the XBox One.

Nintendo E3 2013 Press Conference

Tuesday was Nintendo's turn to show off their slate of planned releases for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. To no surprise Nintendo has thrown in the towel on 2013 and conceded the year to the new consoles 6 months before they come out. Instead their focus seems to be on 2014 where they do seem to have a solid slate of new games but most will not be out until late summer or Holidays 2014.

The only big game for 2013 for the Wii U isn't even vaguely original but a remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. A fine game but its intentional cartoon design means that graphically the only real change will be smoother animation and widescreen but not a real dramatic improvement that makes it worthwhile to buy the system or buy the game all over again for $60. However, 2014's slate includes some pretty good looking games starring a slate of Nintendo classics. Games include Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Super Smash Bros (which does something useful with classic MegaMan since Capcom is unable), and Bayonetta 2.
The Wii U eShop will also get a bunch of smaller games exclusive to them that have a lot of varied game play. A trailer for those games is here.

E3 2013 Microsoft, Sony Press Conferences

Monday was the first day of E3 and it was a doozy. Microsoft's XBox One was attempting a bit of a comback as the last month of public relations has been very poor thanks to a decision to give control of support to used games and lending games to publishers. The same group that historically have long wanted to ban the selling of used games. This choice was further compounded by Microsoft's decision to assume their customers are thieves unless they prove otherwise by having the XB1 check in every 24 hours. Meanwhile, regarding the Playstation 4, Sony offered no comment on their used game policy or potential to phone home simply saying that they would reveal the system, price and details like that at their E3 press conference. To start lets summarize the information from the two main press conferences from Sony and Microsoft the videos of which are below.

Microsoft

Apple's WWDC 2013 Introduces iOS 7

Today Apple held their WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) that is used to introduce their next six months of products to the world. The keynote address showed off their updated late of laptops, new Mac Pro desktop, OS X Maverick update and iOS 7 for iPhone and iPads. The biggest news is for iOS 7 which is a radical change (for Apple) in how iOS 7 looks and feels. The over all result clearly takes design cues from Android and Windows 8 but with few flourishes from Apple. The announcements did not provide updates to iPad, iPhone, or iPod line of products as that will likely come in October when iOS 7 is expected to be ready for release. Lets get into some of the details.

iOS 7

The Government Is Really Spying On You

After 2001, at the behest of the President George Bush, Congress passed a bunch of laws that were designed to find terrorists by any means necessary including spying on phone calls, email and internet activity, often with little or no oversight. While vocally Congress talked about how these immense powers would never be abused, it would never be used to spy on Americans and other noises of "trust me!". Of course since them we have learned that Americans have been spied on from the very beginning and that FBI and other agencies would use their powers not so much to stop terrorists but as fishing exhibitions against whoever they were targeting for whatever reason. Long story short, people were given power and they abused it. The old adage about power made real. Yet despite know people will abuse the power they are giving, we still act amazed when we discover it is happening.

Everything Wrong With Superman Returns

Next week finally brings a new Superman film to theaters with The Man of Steel. So CinemaSins decided to release Everything Wrong With Superman Returns in 6 Minutes or Less. The film, released back in 2006, was a bit of a critical debacle. Which is actually a shame because Brandon Routh actually did a good job in the role of Superman/Clark Kent as did most of the cast (except Kate Bosworth who excelled at looking good but not making a good Lois Lane). Sadly the problem was the story and the inconsistent rules of the story when it came to Kryptonite. The choice to essentially retell the first Superman movie while lathering on the homage in boring ways was just to much for the actors to overcome. A little homage is great but when go so far as to lift the entire story and retell it again, it can be a bit much. Also, no kids. Really, thats just plain dumb.

Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters Trailer #2

Below is the latest trailer for Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters which is a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. The books are a fun read and I like the first film (does hurt that Alexandra Daddario is gorgeous) so I plan on checking it out.

How Iron Man 3 Should Have Ended

An amusing take on some of the story ideas from Iron Man 3. I especially like the idea of the super powered Pepper Potts replacing Stark on The Avengers.

Lifesize Lego Star Wars X-Wing

To promote the Cartoon Network's The Yoda Chronicles, LEGO has built its largest model ever with their life-sized Star Wars X-Wing made almost entirely from Lego. The stats on this model are very impressive. It contains 5,335,200 Legos, weighs 45,980 pounds, its dimensions are 11"H x 44"W x 43"L, and took 17,366 hours (4 months) to build. It is a replica of the X-Wing set #9493 but at 42x larger then it. It includes a scaled up version of the mini-fig Luke and R2-D2 made out of more Lego bricks. The model is designed so it can be broken down for transportation. It premiered today in New York's Time Square and will spend the rest of the year at Legoland California Resort. A hand-on tour of build can be found at Brothers-Brick and a look at the Time Square event and video of the build is at Gizmodo.

Xbox One Announced

Today Microsoft officially revealed the Xbox One, the next generation console that will compete directly with the Playstation 4. Much like the PS4 announcement, Microsoft focused almost entirely on the entertainment and TV aspect of the system with only a slight mention of games. This decision by both companies makes a lot of sense really since E3 is just weeks away and will be entirely focused on video games. Unlike the PS4 announcement, Microsoft showed off more then a controller, they showed off the system itself (image left). No price point was provided with a release date expected around Christmas 2013.

Specs:
- 8-core Jaguar x86-64bit AMD CPU, DirectX 11.1 graphics
- 8GB DDR3 RAM (think old was 512MB)
- 500GB HDD (old started at 4GB and went up), not swappable but external storage supported
- Blu-ray drive (old system was HD-DVD)
- 3.0 USB, 3 802.11N antennas
- HDMI 1.4 passthrough (so HDMI in from cable box, out to TV)
- 1080p and 4k video, 7.1 surround sound

The Wolverine Trailer #2

A new trailer for The Wolverine, coming out on July 26th. If the lovely woman in the beginning looks familiar, that is Famke Janssen as Jean Gray, the character that died in X-Men 3 and Logan loved. As for the movie itself, I have to admit, can't say I am excited about it. It looks like it might be good but for me the block comes from the comics. I never liked the "Samurai" Wolverine stories that took place in Japan. They all were variations of the same "I must restore my honor!" while killing a bajillion ninjas. Still such a story on paper gets boring over and over but done will on the big screen can be an enjoyable action film. I will likely be there opening weekend regardless of my reservations.

Pacific Rim Theatrical Trailer

This is probably one of the films I am most looking forward to this summer. The scale and scope just makes it seem like it will be a really fun film. Because of the scope, I am giving serious consideration to seeing it in IMAX as might be one of the few films worthy of that extra large size.

Man of Steel Trailer #3

Below is the latest Man of Steel trailer. I am a comic book nerd but have to admit I can't get excited about this film. Part of it is little confidence in Warner Bros to get it right (to many executive cooks in the kitchen interfering) and part of it has to do with the trailer itself which just makes the film seem depressing and boring. This isn't to say I will not see the film, its just not achieving that level of excitement where I am ready to pre-order tickets for a 12:01a showing. Instead I will simply watch it whenever I get around to it.

Linkfest - RIP Roger Ebert

It has been a while since the last linkfest. Sadly this one starts with the dead of a legend, goes to a great Lego creations, then comments about Veronica Mars movie, Google Reader closure, and finally a fan made trailer for Calvin and Hobbes.

R.I.P. Roger Ebert (6/18/1942-4/4/2013)
Today the entertainment industry lost a legend in the form of long time movie critic Roger Ebert. The 45 year veteran of the Chicago Sun-Times didn't have an opinion he wasn't willing to share (about all forms of entertainment), died today from cancer. To say Ebert loved the movies would be an understatement. Probably not words in the dictionary that can describe that love. Even when he hated the movie, I suspect he loved that it existed and added a little bit to the collected culture even if seen by few. Ebert, the other half of Siskel &, rose to fame starting with his review television show in 1975 that eventually morphed into "At the Movies" with its famous thumbs up or thumbs down reviews. Even after losing his lower jaw in 2006 to cancer, the critic continued to share his opinions about all forms of entertainment. Well except video games which he didn't consider art to the consternation of video games fans worldwide. That his opinion on the subject matter shows that even the current generation of kids knew who he was and cared what he thought. There really doesn't exist a critic today of his caliber and fame and in this age of dispersed entertainment, I doubt there will be one again. While Ebert probably didn't influence many of our entertainment choices, I suspect his influence on Hollywood was quite large. So by relation, the impact of Ebert on our day to day entertainment choices will likely never be known. Condolences to his family, I suspect he will be watching from on high, watching ever movie that comes out from now until the end of time.

The First Honest Cable Commercial

For your amusement. Note: Not safe for work.

Playstation 4 Announced

Sony has announced their next generation console and if it lives up to the promise of its presentation, then console future is looking pretty good. And that is before Microsoft announces their next gen (rumor is anywhere from this year's E3 to next year). The press conference was about two hours long and ironically did not show the actual final product, provide a price or a release date other then Holidays 2013 (so likely early November 2013). Instead it was about its potential features and possible launch games but still a hell of a start.

Specs:
- custom 8 core x86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU with 1.84 TFLOPS AMD Radeon graphics engine (current gen is at 1.76 TFLOPS)
- 8GB GDDR5 RAM (for comparison the PS3 has 512mb so a 16x increase in RAM)
- Build-in hard drive (sizes not announces)
- 6x Blu-ray/8x DVD drive
- USB 3.0 ports (number not specificed)
- Ethernet, b/g/n Wi-fi and Bluetooth 2.1 (essentially same as PS3)
- HDMI, analog AV-out, and optical S/PDIF audio output (so essentially same as PS3)
- DualShock 4 controller with touchpad, gyroscope, accelerometer, vibration, lightbar with 3 LED lights, mono speaker, micro USB port, headset port, battery
- Playstation 4 Eye with two 1280x800 camera, 85 degree field of view

Linkfest - Goodbye Arcades and the PS2

For once a linkfest without politics. Mostly because just don't feel like talking about it since the year has opened with more of the same. If had hope that Senator Reid would grow a pair and alter the filibuster rules to return to the more transparent "Mr. Smith" style that Republicans eliminated in 1971 (I think) then might be more involved but I suspect this year will end up looking like last year. In any event, below is a look at the Superman S-shield, goodbye to the PS2, death of the arcade, data caps sucking, behind the scenes of the Avengers and Red 2 trailer.

120 Superman S-Shields from 75 Years
An interesting infographic that shows off the Superman shield from every year including the variations that would pop up from year to year and in movies and cartoons. Of note is while the shield mostly remained static for 60+ years, the last 10 years brought about the most constant change in design which makes since only because DC is constantly engaging in gimmicks to maintain their audience. As for the picture to the left, those represent the highlights of the 120.

Linkfest - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

The year is almost done and fortunately the Mayans were wrong as we are all still here. The problems remain but so does hope for the future. In the last post of the year we look at another cool Lego creation, info on data caps being scam, Wal-Mart hell, great Stephen Colbert interview, Google's year in review, and the Man of Steel.

Lego The Legend of Zelda Map
The image is a Lego re-creation of the map for the classic NES game The Legend of Zelda. From Michael Kuroda, the map re-creation really isn't that large with it being 256 Lego studs wide by 88 studs high.

Data Caps are Cash Cows and Unnecessary
Hit the link to read a little bit about how cable companies and telephone service providers lie when they claim tiered data systems are necessary because of a need for data caps. The reality is the cost to move data gets cheaper every year. Also the cost of the transmission remains the same whether 1 megabyte of data is moved or 1000 megabytes. Long story short, the more you use the internet should not cost you more because it doesn't cost the service providers more. They just pretend it does because its an easy way for them to charge more while providing nothing more thereby increasing their profits. The upper management gets their huge bonuses while having done literally nothing for their customers. Its a scam so next time a company or a politician pretends otherwise, don't believe them.